Information aspects and future directions in an integrated telecommunications and enterprise management environment

Abstract

Commercial enterprises are becoming increasingly involved with telecommunications as their use of networks increases. This has implications for corporate management systems as they are faced with integrating telecommunication management concepts into their local management systems. THis paper investigates the information aspects of the integrated management of telecommunications networks, services and systems, and the related databases for the purpose of corporate management. It distinguishes between management information required locally and information needed for inter-domain management. Two examples of research work being undertaken in this area are discussed and a strategy based on an integrated management information repository is introduced. The first project shows how management relevant information from different actors can be incorporated into an integrated interdomain management information base by using the TMN X interface, whereas the second example provides solutions for the integration of the heterogeneous information bases within one large enterprise. Both examples have been chosen to demonstrate that the migration to integrated management systems will require the use of standardized and comprehensive interfaces, such as the TMN X interface.